The following is a scenario that I will be participating in. It is a scenario I performed at the beginning of my college career. A family that was worried about their newborn child. Crazy to see the art of placing words together, and how it has progressed to where we are now. I hope you enjoy!
John and Susan are a couple that has had their first child together, and they are worried about their child, Steven being at risk of becoming overweight. They want to know the progression of their child, and how to go about eating the right foods in order to achieve optimal growth for him, without becoming overweight.
Hello Mr. and Mrs. Smith, my name is Cyral I Callender III and I will be the man helping you in achieving the best type of nutrition for your newborn Steven. I am aware of you being worried about Steven potentially being over-weight as he ages. But I can assure you that through the right nutrition, and eating habits, your son will grow up healthy and within the right percentile with weight and height. According to The Center for Disease controls percentile chart, your son is currently in the 75th percentile for both height and weight (The CDC, 2020). He also has averaged that throughout the first 5 months of his life which is really good. That puts him at a very good range for growth consistently since birth, so you guys are doing a great job. Anything from the 5th percentile to the 95th percentile is considered normal, being that your son is at the same weight and height as 75 percent of children in his age range.
When it comes to solid foods, I believe you guys should hold off for at least the first six months. I understand Steven is already holding his head strong, and can sit up with support, but it is recommended to not do solid foods until around the six months age. Of course, your son may be progressing sooner than other babies, but I would advise to shoot around the six months mark. According to one of my favorite websites, March of Dimes, Steven should start showing cues at about six months, such as holding his head up, he doesn’t push things out of his mouth with his tongue, doubles his birthweight or is at least 13 pounds, and opening his mouth, drooling, or leaning forward at the sight of food (March of Dimes, 2015). I know he is doing swell with his progression and can do most of these things, so that is a great sign for you all. His weight is well over the 13 pounds, so he is good in that aspect. How does he do when he sees you guys eating something? If he drools or leans towards your direction when he sees your food, then he should be ready to try his own solid foods.
In about another few weeks, I would continue him on breastmilk, but begin putting powdered cereal in with his milk. Powdered cereal is mostly made up of rice or oatmeal, which ever one he prefers and is the consistence of really thick milk. This will also help him to get used to drinking milk out of a bottle since you will have to mix it in with your breastmilk. When he reaches the 6-8 months range he should begin showing cues, such as: he can sit up by himself without support and begins bringing food to his mouth and holding it himself (March of Dimes, 2015). Of course, you aren’t going to be giving him a piece of pizza to bring to his mouth, it would just be more of him bringing his bottle to his mouth. This shows that he is ready for the next step. Again, according to March of Dimes, the type of foods you can begin giving him at this point would be the following: regular breastmilk, cooked/softened fruits and vegetables, pureed meats, and baby food from a jar (March of Dines, 2015). The breast milk is just a typical thing that should be followed throughout the whole first year of life at least. And the fruits and vegetables aren’t going to be whole, they are going to be like the meats, which is mashed or pureed. That consistency is a lot like the baby food in a jar which is sort of like apple sauce, which is thicker, but isn’t straight water either. This will begin to produce more solid stool as well, so be careful of run-away nuggets. For the final months of his first year, he should begin showing signs of the following: sitting up by himself without support better than before, hold foods between fingers and thumbs like a pincer grip, hold objects like a spoon in his hands, and begins to chew food (March of Dimes, 2015). These signs have a lot of the same correlation as the 6-8 months range, but he must seem to be doing better than before. Of course, he isn’t going to be able to do it as well as you guys yet, but he will be a lot better at this point. The types of foods that you can give him, are as follows: again, with the breast milk, finger foods, fruits that are soft, and small pieces of table foods (March of Dimes, 2015). The finger foods are along the lines of breakfast cereal, small pieces of bread, and well-cooked vegetables, meats, and pastas. This is just to ensure that he doesn’t begin choking, and if he does, his body will automatically being to pass it through the esophagus. With the fruits, you can give him soft fruits like bananas and older pears, or just make sure you chop them up first into small bite sized pieces. And the best part, you can start giving him bits and pieces of what you make throughout the day. This gives you the feeling of being able to cook for the whole family and starts to show you what he likes and dislikes. Of course, you want to chop up the bigger pieces into small human bite sizes for him, but you can also give him things like pastas and mashed potatoes. Slowly keep all of this up for him and you will begin to see just how picky your boy may be.
When Steven is born, his body will already store iron for the first 4-6 months. After that point, I would recommend you to start giving him iron rich foods to ensure he has the amount that he needs. There are a lot of iron fortified food out there, such as iron rich cereals or meats and beans which should be given to him twice a day. To promote iron absorption from plant foods, combine the iron rich food with food that is rich in vitamin C. Such as combine a rice and bean food with tomato sauce or fruit puree (. Since you are breast feeding him, and not doing formula which contains higher iron levels, I would recommend giving him a supplement of iron for the duration that his physician gives you.
Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Smith for your time, and wishing to obtain more information about proper nutrition for your baby boy, Steven. If you follow these topics that we discussed, you should have no problem with your son growing into a good healthy toddler. Please feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions pertaining to your son, or even yourselves for that matter. I would be more then glad to help you reach your diet goals as well. A healthy eating habit promotes an even healthier lifestyle.
-Cyral I Callender III
References:
March of Dimes. (June, 2015). Starting Your Baby on Solid Foods. Retrieved from: https://www.marchofdimes.org/baby/starting-your-baby-on-solid-foods.aspx#
Stasenko, Natalia MS, RD, CDN. (May 8th, 2018). 4 Infant Supplements to Ask Your Pediatrician About. Retrieved from: https://www.eatright.org/food/vitamins-and-supplements/dietary-supplements/4-infant-supplements-to-ask-your-pediatrician-about
The Center for Disease Control. (2020). Birth to 24 Months: Boys Length-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/who/GrChrt_Boys_24LW_100611.pdf
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